New Delhi: Razaullah Nizamani, a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and the head of its Nepal module, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Badin district of Sindh, Pakistan, on Sunday afternoon.
Known by numerous aliases including Saifullah Khalid, Vinode Kumar, Md. Salim, Khalid, Waliyul, Wazid, Salim Bhai, Razaullah, Sain Raza, and Abdul Rehman, Nizamani was a key planner and facilitator of some of the most high-profile and deadly terror attacks on Indian soil in the early 2000s.
According to intelligence records, Razaullah Nizamani was the central figure in Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Nepal operations. As head of the LeT’s Nepal module, he was responsible for recruiting operatives, providing financial and logistical support, and facilitating the movement of LeT cadres across the Indo-Nepal border. His strategic role enabled cross-border terrorist infiltration, arms smuggling, and the expansion of LeT’s sleeper networks in India.
He is most infamously known for his direct role in orchestrating three major terror strikes in India. The first was the 2005 Indian Institute of Science (IISc) attack in Bengaluru, regarded as the first jihadi attack in South India. A LeT operative opened fire at a group of scientists attending a conference, killing one professor and injuring several others. The gunman escaped, but the attack marked a turning point in India’s internal security landscape and was traced back to the Nepal-based module headed by Nizamani.
In 2006, Nizamani was behind the attempted suicide attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur. Three heavily armed fidayeen attempted to storm the headquarters early in the morning, but were intercepted and killed by security forces before they could reach the main building. The planning, reconnaissance, and logistics for the attackers were facilitated by the LeT Nepal module under Nizamani’s direction.
In 2008, he masterminded the attack on the CRPF Group Centre in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, in which four terrorists entered the camp in the early hours of New Year’s Day and opened indiscriminate fire, killing seven CRPF personnel and a civilian. The attack once again bore the hallmarks of LeT’s cross-border infiltration model through Nepal, with intelligence pointing to Nizamani as the key planner and financier.
After Indian security agencies dismantled significant parts of the LeT Nepal network, Nizamani relocated to Pakistan, where he remained active within Lashkar and Jamaat-ud-Dawah’s hierarchy. He worked in close coordination with top LeT commanders such as Azam Cheema alias Babaji—one of the principal planners of the 2008 Mumbai attacks—and Yaqoob, LeT’s chief accountant. Nizamani also maintained operational links with Yusuf Muzammil, LeT’s commander for Jammu and Kashmir, as well as with other senior JuD figures like Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi and Muhammad Yusuf Taibi.
In Pakistan, Nizamani was tasked with expanding recruitment efforts in the Badin and Hyderabad districts of Sindh, targeting impoverished and radicalized youth for Lashkar’s future operations. He was also given the responsibility of raising funds locally to support the organisation’s ongoing efforts in Kashmir and beyond.
Nizamani was shot dead near his residence in Badin. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died on the spot. The attackers, described only as “unidentified gunmen,” fled immediately after the ambush.
While no group has claimed responsibility, it is being attributed to “unknown gunmen” which become widely recognized in Pakistan’s security and media circles as a euphemism for suspected covert action by Indian external intelligence agency RAW. The precision and timing of the hit, combined with Nizamani’s profile, have led to intense speculation that it may have been a targeted killing orchestrated from across the border.
The death of Razaullah Nizamani marks a significant blow to Lashkar-e-Taiba’s historical infrastructure that facilitated terror activities through Nepal. It also signals the continued vulnerability of high-ranking terrorist leaders in Pakistan, especially those involved in operations against India. For Indian intelligence and counter-terror agencies, Nizamani’s killing may represent the long-delayed culmination of years of pursuit following his hand in the deaths of Indian civilians and security personnel.